1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pinball machines, and more particularly to flippers for pinball machines. The present invention specifically relates to a flipper that is rotated by a motor, permitting control of the angular position or velocity of the flipper by the pinball machine in response to player input, ball position or game sequences.
2. Background Art
In a pinball game, a player operates flippers to direct a ball over a playfield to various targets to score points. The targets are assigned different scores, and targets having high scores are often placed in areas of the playfield that are reached only by the more skillful players. The player, for example, must direct the ball to a restricted channel on the playfield to reach the high-scoring targets. The flippers are typically pivoted by solenoids to strike the ball. Typically one or more flippers that pivot in a clockwise direction are mounted at lower right peripheral positions of the playfield, and one or more flippers that pivot in a counter-clockwise direction are mounted at lower left peripheral positions of the playfield. The flippers on the right side of the playfield are activated by a player-operated push-button on the right side of the game housing, and the flippers on the left side of the playfield are activated by a player-operated push-button on the left side of the game housing.